shadowy times.. recognize and allow, and say yes.
After Tuesday, I've been in this fog. This includes being reactive. Which is what I am working on. It is so hard to stay focus and aware, during heavy emotional events.
Listening again to my favorite podcasts, studying some more. I took some notes for me, and to share. This is me, and also Tara's words. I included the link at the bottom if you want to listen to it.
So being present during shadowy times, is difficult. We are caught in trance, and caught in reactivity. It loops. These are unconscious forces we are not attending to.
Social scientists say that fear is seven teams as likely to spread in a social attitude.
This is the survival negativity bias, we begin to loop in fear and reactivity. Over and over again.
Fight, flight, freeze - a reaction that we are never happy with.
How do we pay attention to them? How do we wake up?
In order to evolve individually and societally to counter that negativity bias, we have to wake up. Wake up presence. Wake up mindfulness. Wake up love. That is the antidote.
It is the default place to go to when things seem horrible.
Cynicism is really an expression of fear and mistrust. Almost like a lack of hope.
We are all cynics, as am I, but I never realized how being in this way has made me doubt so much, including myself. Cynicism is one the most toxic of the shadows.
"Shadow," is an expression of unconscious fear. Fear that has not been faced, and felt, and uncovered. It is universal. We all deal with this.
If we want to wake up we have to participate and be responsible. I call it working on myself, and collectively, I know we all are in our own ways. I want to wake up, participate, and be accountable.
It is important to not react nor withdraw from the shadow. Deal with it. When we do we end up either backing down or remaining pessimistic.
On a personal level we can become cynical and jaded towards what drives others.
Our deepest cynicism is usually toward ourselves. Cynical view towards their own motives. "I don't trust myself." "Why should I forgive myself? I'll just do it over again, and again."
It is a way of saying no. "It's bad" or "I'm bad."
Say yes to what is here. Saying no is usually unconscious. The lymbic is so fast, and the prefrontal is so much slower to respond. When we say "no" we are resisting to things that uncomfortable, and unfamiliar. Rather then allowing them, and working through them.
Here we express to ourselves we have no trust in our own goodness and capacity to grow. It is one of the trance states. That we are not enough, and we have a motive that has a mix we do not really like. We do have marbled intentions, part of the way we act, but there is more. When we are cynical and look at where we are falling short, we forget the real truth. The truth that we do love, and are loved, and care about the world. We forget that in the moments of cynicism where our minds become narrowed. The key to shifting, is to begin to pay attention and notice that trance. Notice what we are missing. This resonates with me very deeply, and is so key.
It is part of our evolutionary direction and potential to move from this kind of fear, to really sense that there are real beings. There is no separate self. We are not alone. An ocean. We must move from this separateness to a sense of belonging.
This is the capacity of the most newly evolved part of our brain. This part of our brain is not cynical.
It senses possibility.
Understanding the triune brain. Oooooo. Reptilian, limbic, and neocortex.
When we are caught in the reptilian and limbic we come from an unconscious and fear driven place. Suspicious of others. Doubt, fear, violent.. I think of Severus (my ball python) and Lily (my cat), when I approach them they are weary and untrusting of me.
When the prefrontal cortex part of the brain activates, it helps us live from a larger sense of connection. An ocean, we are not alone. Then we begin to instead notice the shadow but not be driven by it.
I like the two wings Tara spoke of, the two wings to awakening. To take flight and be free.
Two wings.
1-Recognizing. Prefrontal cortex. Where we notice what is going on.
2- Allowing. Saying yes to what is here. Acknowledging reality. Be kind.
Not linear, interchangeable.
You can "oh this is whats going on.." to then "ok, I'll just be with it" or the other way around.
The moment we resist our grasp, we are identified. Let go, step back, witness.
The moment we recognize and allow, we start inhabiting a more whole and integrated space of awareness.
Meditation is the training to activating these two wings.
Yes to allow. Say, yes.
A no to a no. - someone does something bad, and we hate them for it.
A no to a yes. - someone does something bad, and we accept it. We forgive. We love.
Another no to a yes. - you do something bad. You witness it and nurture it (where we learn).
We learn through love toward ourselves or others, not through judgement.
What turns a no into a yes?
Mindfulness.
Intentionally recognizing what is going on.
Tracking your "no's." Notice what is going on in your body too. Notice your attitude toward it too.
Step one, recognize what is going on. Step two, say yes. Say yes to a no.
Agreeing to offer more space, and not doing anything. That is the beginning of saying yes.
Carrying this with me today, and the two wings to awaken.
Awakening Consciousness in Shadowy Times (Part 2)
Listening again to my favorite podcasts, studying some more. I took some notes for me, and to share. This is me, and also Tara's words. I included the link at the bottom if you want to listen to it.
So being present during shadowy times, is difficult. We are caught in trance, and caught in reactivity. It loops. These are unconscious forces we are not attending to.
Social scientists say that fear is seven teams as likely to spread in a social attitude.
This is the survival negativity bias, we begin to loop in fear and reactivity. Over and over again.
Fight, flight, freeze - a reaction that we are never happy with.
How do we pay attention to them? How do we wake up?
In order to evolve individually and societally to counter that negativity bias, we have to wake up. Wake up presence. Wake up mindfulness. Wake up love. That is the antidote.
It is the default place to go to when things seem horrible.
Cynicism is really an expression of fear and mistrust. Almost like a lack of hope.
We are all cynics, as am I, but I never realized how being in this way has made me doubt so much, including myself. Cynicism is one the most toxic of the shadows.
"Shadow," is an expression of unconscious fear. Fear that has not been faced, and felt, and uncovered. It is universal. We all deal with this.
If we want to wake up we have to participate and be responsible. I call it working on myself, and collectively, I know we all are in our own ways. I want to wake up, participate, and be accountable.
It is important to not react nor withdraw from the shadow. Deal with it. When we do we end up either backing down or remaining pessimistic.
On a personal level we can become cynical and jaded towards what drives others.
Our deepest cynicism is usually toward ourselves. Cynical view towards their own motives. "I don't trust myself." "Why should I forgive myself? I'll just do it over again, and again."
It is a way of saying no. "It's bad" or "I'm bad."
Say yes to what is here. Saying no is usually unconscious. The lymbic is so fast, and the prefrontal is so much slower to respond. When we say "no" we are resisting to things that uncomfortable, and unfamiliar. Rather then allowing them, and working through them.
It is part of our evolutionary direction and potential to move from this kind of fear, to really sense that there are real beings. There is no separate self. We are not alone. An ocean. We must move from this separateness to a sense of belonging.
This is the capacity of the most newly evolved part of our brain. This part of our brain is not cynical.
It senses possibility.
Understanding the triune brain. Oooooo. Reptilian, limbic, and neocortex.
When we are caught in the reptilian and limbic we come from an unconscious and fear driven place. Suspicious of others. Doubt, fear, violent.. I think of Severus (my ball python) and Lily (my cat), when I approach them they are weary and untrusting of me.
When the prefrontal cortex part of the brain activates, it helps us live from a larger sense of connection. An ocean, we are not alone. Then we begin to instead notice the shadow but not be driven by it.
I like the two wings Tara spoke of, the two wings to awakening. To take flight and be free.
Two wings.
1-Recognizing. Prefrontal cortex. Where we notice what is going on.
2- Allowing. Saying yes to what is here. Acknowledging reality. Be kind.
Not linear, interchangeable.
You can "oh this is whats going on.." to then "ok, I'll just be with it" or the other way around.
The moment we resist our grasp, we are identified. Let go, step back, witness.
The moment we recognize and allow, we start inhabiting a more whole and integrated space of awareness.
Meditation is the training to activating these two wings.
Yes to allow. Say, yes.
A no to a no. - someone does something bad, and we hate them for it.
A no to a yes. - someone does something bad, and we accept it. We forgive. We love.
Another no to a yes. - you do something bad. You witness it and nurture it (where we learn).
We learn through love toward ourselves or others, not through judgement.
What turns a no into a yes?
Mindfulness.
Intentionally recognizing what is going on.
Tracking your "no's." Notice what is going on in your body too. Notice your attitude toward it too.
Step one, recognize what is going on. Step two, say yes. Say yes to a no.
Agreeing to offer more space, and not doing anything. That is the beginning of saying yes.
Carrying this with me today, and the two wings to awaken.
Awakening Consciousness in Shadowy Times (Part 2)
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